One Last Chance
by Forest Archer
Summary: Spoilers for the season 13 finale. As he comes to terms with recent events, Tony takes his new companion to Paris - but not just to see the city. It might be wishful thinking, but his gut is telling him there's still something for him to find there.
1. One Last Chance

_(A/N: The UK is several episodes behind in broadcasting NCIS, so I only know what I've seen in a few clips of the finale - I hope any inaccuracies that result can be forgiven. I just had to write this, though, driven by feeling very emotional about the revelations that prompted Tony leaving the team! Well, that and a deep sense of denial because I really loved Tony and Ziva together. This is also my first NCIS story, so thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it.)_

* * *

Tony's almost certain that what he's doing is completely mad, but then his life is a little mad at the moment. He, Anthony Dinozzo, with everything that name entails and everything his life has been, has a daughter.

He'd figured for years now that this was off the table. He'd made a choice - unconsciously at first, then quite deliberately years ago, dripping wet in front of a fireplace as he looked between a little family and his team - to devote everything to his job. He had buried the part of him that wanted a wife and child because there were still crimes to solve and people to save, and because he already had a family, in a way. There wasn't room for more than that.

Now he's standing in a hotel room in Paris, watching his little girl babble away to her favourite toys - her old dog, and a little cat he bought before they left Washington. She's stroked its soft fur so much between the ears that he wonders if it will have worn away by her next birthday.

Her next birthday. It hits him again with a wave of emotion he's still not used to - he has a daughter and he's going to be with her through everything. She's going to have so many birthdays, she's going to go to school and make friends and have parties and one day she's going to graduate; one day maybe he'll get to walk her down the aisle and he's never seen a future like this before. This precious life has been handed to him and it fills places inside him that have been empty for such a long time.

It is tempered by grief. The loss of Ziva is like a gaping wound that only got worse in Israel, because being there without her, without any chance of seeing her, felt wrong in ways he couldn't describe. They didn't stay long.

But Paris. The memories are good here - memories he'll tell Tali about one day, the days her Imah and Abba spent in this city, their not-a-vacation that he'll never forget about.

It feels better here. There's so much to show Tali, and he wants her to see everything - the tourist sights and the back streets, the little cafes where he can buy her endless hot chocolates... (Oh God, he's going to have to start eating more carefully. It's mostly been restaurant meals so far but when they're back home he's going to have to have serious thoughts about vegetables.)

But there's something else first. A last hope in hell, a you never know until you try. Because he knows Ziva's dead, that's what they all told him, but he is Gibbs' special agent and his gut just isn't quite sure.

He drops down next to his daughter on the sofa, and his heart soars when she beams up at him. She is the most beautiful person he's ever seen in his life.

"Are you ready to go exploring, Tali?" he says, reaching over to tickle her sides. Her laugh is just for him, because of him, and he's never loved anyone this much.

She reaches the toys out towards him, pressing them against him like her defenders, and he rocks back on the sofa as though overpowered, letting her clamber up onto his legs.

"Oh, I'm defeated!" he cries dramatically, hands instinctively on her sides to steady her. "I take it your friends are coming too, then? Okay, but tell them I mean no harm! We need to go get some cake."

Tali climbs down, leaving him with temporary custody of the toys while she grabs the little backpack he got at the start of the trip. There is a ritual to be followed here, and they know it well by now. She presses a kiss to the little cat then holds it out to Tony, who obediently kisses it before Tali tucks it into the bag. The dog gets its two kisses too, the dog that Ziva gave her, before it is placed safely in beside its companion. Tali zips it up carefully but clearly doesn't want to carry it today, because she puts it in Tony's lap. The bag is small, pink and covered in flowers, but Tali is the cutest thing in the world and this was a done deal a long time ago.

They leave the hotel hand in hand. His fingers have held guns and cuffs and held down the worst kind of criminals and today they hold this tiny hand, to keep his daughter safe.

His friends probably thought the time away would help him process what's happened, but Tony still doesn't know how he feels. The grief comes in waves so overpowering that he wants to curl up and cry because she _can't_ be gone, how can she die, she's a ninja and he _needs_ her. Being apart from her was hell but at least he knew she was out there, that the future was a _maybe_ not a _no_. Now everyone tells him it's over for good and he doesn't know how to handle it.

But he's angry, too. Angry because she cheated him out of those first few years of Tali's life - that because she was strong and didn't need him that somehow meant he didn't have the right to know that this child existed. She hadn't had the right to decide that his life was better without knowing he had a daughter because he would have moved heaven and earth to be with his child and that would have been his choice.

And yet, here and now, he has been given something that means more than anything else ever could, and every time he reaches for that anger to push away the grief they both fade into this sense of _love, love, love_. He knows, now, more acutely than he ever could have done before, how all those families felt in the cases that involved children. He would do anything for Tali without second thought, without hesitation, because this is a love that has taken over his mind, his heart, his body, and he will protect her in any way he can. That's why leaving NCIS turned out to be so simple, when he once thought he could never choose to go - because the risk of dying was one he couldn't take when he was all Tali had.

It's not like he's leaving the others behind for good, anyway. Gibbs is going to be a second grandfather to his child, he's sure of that - he can already picture them working in the basement together, Gibbs guiding her hands on the sandpaper. Maybe they'll take her sailing together. And no one could outrun Abby even if they wanted to; she was going to be the most doting aunt for Tali. He'd have McGee and Bishop over for dinner, maybe have barbecues in the summer. He was going to have to think about getting a house, somewhere close enough that Tali's extended family could always come and visit...

There is a gaping hole in this picture where Ziva should be. It's here now, too, because there is no one holding Tali's other hand as they stroll down the streets of Paris.

He can't dwell on it, because the last thing he wants is to upset his child. So he swings her up into his arms and remembers when he drove these roads with her mother, and tells his daughter about every movie that was set in the city. She probably doesn't understand most of what he says but she seems to like his voice, and every now and then she points out some new find - a huge building or a street performer, and her excitement infects him with every step.

One last chance. He'll take this one last chance and if it turns out he was wrong then he'll walk away. He'll show his daughter everything he loves about Paris and then he'll take her home, and he'll build a steady life for her. He'll accept what must be true and he will do the right thing, and move on for the sake of his child.

But he has to try first. He has to find out if she was trying to tell him something.

Because it's _Ziva_. If anyone could have done the impossible, it's her.

So he takes Tali to the cafe they went to those years ago. He orders a coffee and a hot chocolate and two slices of cake and they sit at a table outside. As his daughter starts pulling the marshmallows out of her drink and setting them aside in a careful row, for a reason he cannot begin to guess, Tony pulls the dog and the cat back out of the bag and sets them on the table. It's so different to last time, and there are certainly no motorcycle rides ahead of them today, but it feels right in a way he can't describe. This is who he is now - maybe who he was always meant to be.

They sit for ages. Tali seems quite content - she drinks and eats and chats away, apparently unconcerned when her father can't follow everything she says. How much of it is Hebrew or English or the unique language of children he isn't quite sure, but it hardly matters. He'd say yes to anything she asked anyway.

Eventually, Tony starts to wonder if they should go. It was a mad idea. Even if she had survived, there was no saying that she'd have come to Paris - and no reason why she should happen to come to the cafe on this day at this time anyway. Maybe he'd just been hoping for some act of God, some miracle, destiny, or anything.

The trouble is that if he stands up now he'll be admitting that she's gone. That Ziva died without any chance of a goodbye and that whatever he does for Tali there will always be a gap in their lives where her mother should be. He is grateful beyond all measure that he will be in Tali's life but Ziva was the love of his, and he can't bring himself to walk away.

But he has to. Perhaps without his daughter he would be on the brink, but he is responsible for her and he will not waver in that.

"Come on, love," he says at last. "We should get going."

She's touching the necklace. Ziva's Star of David looks so bright in her little hands, and she looks up at him with a smile. He will treasure every moment with her.

Then he realises she's not looking at him, she's looking over his shoulder. He feels the same thrum in his stomach that he got when McGee and Abby arrived at his apartment with the news but this time it is not that sinking, destructive certainty but a wordless desperate _hope_. It might be mad and it might be in vain but he came here for an impossible chance and _what if, what if -_

Tali stands up and her smile is like sunlight.

"Imah!"

"Hello, Tony."


	2. Family

_(A/N: The response to this story has been overwhelming and really, really awesome. You guys are amazing and I want to thank everyone who's read, favourited and alerted this story, and particularly to everyone who's reviewed!_

 _There were a lot of requests for a follow up, but_ _ **this is not a direct sequel to the first chapter**_ **.** _I still haven't seen the last few episodes of season 13, or indeed the episodes where Ziva left in the first place. As such, I didn't feel like I was in a position to write a piece where they have some very needed conversations. All the same, your feedback kept me thinking about this story, and this came out. It's basically a jump forward into the future by a year or two, to a time when Tony and Ziva have discussed everything and come together with Tali as a little family. Again, if anything doesn't fit with the show, that's probably because I've forgotten details or not seen episodes yet! Oh, and I got to the end before I realised I forgot to include Dinozzo Sr., but oh well. Consider this an epilogue, and expect a lot of sweetness and balloons - because I really love a happy ending.)_

* * *

There is something about Tali that is healing them all.

It is a slow process, and there are times when Tony's joy is tinged with sorrow. He sometimes looks at his little family and sees what Gibbs has lost - his wife and daughter but also the future they would have had, the grandchildren he might have known and the man he might have been. He sees what Ellie might have had with Jake, the love McGee nearly lost in an explosion, the people Kate never met, the childhood Ziva lost too young. Sometimes it is his own hurts that strike him, old wounds that haven't passed - cases that still tug at him, mistakes, and that premature and blessedly misplaced grief for Ziva. And there is still that strange pang of loss for those missed years of Tali's life; for all that he is here with her now, he finds himself mourning those days when he wasn't there to marvel at Ziva's growing bump, to watch his little girl being born, to hold her to sooth those earliest tears.

There is much in all their lives that is full of pain and darkness, but the tide is turning for them now. Without having to do anything but be herself, Tali is saving them.

As far as Tony can tell, anyway, his kid has to be a miracle worker. He'd begun to realise, in the years before Tali, that he was always going to be on his own. He couldn't regret the decisions he'd made in his life, not when he considered the people he'd helped and the people he'd known, but there was no shaking how deep the finality of that knowledge went.

She's changed his life, and he's not the only one.

This day, right here, sums the whole wonderful thing up, really.

They're in his back yard. The nice big back yard that goes with the little house whose mortgage is in the happiest combination of names he knows - _Anthony Dinozzo_ and _Ziva David_. They found it pretty soon after returning to Washington from those weeks in Paris that were all arguments and kisses and tears. There was so much hurt to resolve but so much wonder at the little girl who giggled and cried and screamed, kept them up at night and fell asleep bundled between them in the morning. They'd got back to his flat and it just hadn't felt right any more because it belonged to another man - a man who was happy but still sad in so many ways, and the sleek lines of the apartment didn't feel warm enough for the light they were bringing in. It certainly wasn't big enough.

So he'd sold it without a second thought, and they'd gone house hunting. Ziva David prowling round suburban neighbourhoods and calmly questioning estate agents about good school districts ranked pretty high on the list of things Tony never thought he'd live to see, but there they were. The flat had sold quickly and with a high figure (turns out McGee was right about another thing, after all) - which was good, because Ziva's accounts were still suspended on account of her theoretically being dead and all.

And yeah, it was close to a good school, and a park, and there were cosy bedrooms and a big living room that now houses Tony's collection of DVDs, expanded to include more Disney titles than he ever knew existed. Most importantly, though, it's within an easy drive to Gibbs' place.

Which helps to account for what Tony is seeing right now. The yard is decked out in what must have been every streamer, banner and string of bunting in the store. They're wound between fence posts, looped into the branches of trees and tacked onto the windows. In every available space, balloons dance in the breeze, helium trying to tug them towards the sky. Ziva and Gibbs had been formidable teammates in the field, as Tony would have been the first to say; all the same, he would never have predicted the day when that military efficiency would see them hanging party decorations.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, what about this one? It was on the ceiling, I jumped for the string!" Tali runs over to Gibbs with a forgotten balloon clasped in her hands. It is bright yellow (the favourite colour of the month) and covered with the words _'Birthday Girl'_.

Gibbs finishes the knot he's working on and looks down at the little girl with an expression his face once didn't seem able to achieve, but it comes so naturally to him these days. It's full of such raw love - a love he isn't trying to fight against to protect himself, or hide from everyone around him. He lets himself be the version of himself that was stolen so long ago when he is around Tali, and it fills Tony with a happiness he doesn't have words for.

"Can't forget that one," Gibbs says, and he reaches to pick her up. Tali leaps into his arms eagerly; Gibbs doesn't react, but Tony winces for him. That must be tugging on some old injuries, but Gibbs never complains. Following his lead as ever, Tony hasn't said anything to Tali either. They have all seen the darkness, but she doesn't need to.

"Here," Gibbs says, holding her up so that she can reach one of the branches. "You tie that one up, right there. What do you think?"

"Perfect, Gibbs!"

Yeah, that _was_ something they'd tried to work on. Tony and Ziva had run through a lot of options - granddad, grandpa, grandpappy - but nothing really seemed to fit, and eventually Tali had picked up on what they always called him anyway. Gibbs had given Tony a _look_ , once, but Tony had just shrugged with an unrepentant grin, because it was kind of the cutest thing to hear that name called with such innocent love, and said that at least she wasn't calling him boss.

He's so caught up watching that he doesn't hear her coming up behind him - not that he would, anyway, because domestic life has not made Ziva lose her edge. Her hands slip around his waist and she presses a kiss against his cheek as they both watch Gibbs talk to his granddaughter.

"I love you," he says, because he can never get bored of saying it, and she kisses him again.

"I know," she replies, and Tony spins around to stare at her. Ziva is laughing, her eyes sparkling with vibrant and beautiful life, and his once idiom-challenged partner just quoted _Star Wars_ at him. Tony couldn't be any more in love.

The others start to arrive. Gibbs starts prepping the barbeque and Tali runs off to greet her guests. McGee and Delilah are first, and they present Tali with a present that Tony just _knows_ is going to be outrageously nerdy. It's good to see them, though, and even if he wraps it all up with a joke about what Tim's wearing, the hug he greets him with is sincere.

Abby comes bearing a large present and a tray of black cupcakes, which she thrusts at Tony in order to grab Tali in a hug. Tali contemplates the little spiders inked onto the cupcakes and points out that it's not Halloween.

"Every day is Halloween if you want it to be," Abby says firmly, and Tony makes a mental note not to take Tali to Abby's place until she's a bit older. "Anyway, you have to eat as much cake as you can fit in your tummy on your birthday."

That's a challenge Tony is going to wish she hadn't issued later, but he finds himself handing a cupcake down to his beaming daughter anyway.

Jimmy and Breena come with Victoria, who's younger than Tali but they seem to be friends if the eager babbling that no one else comprehends is anything to go by. They also gave Ducky a lift, and Tali attaches herself to his waist for about ten minutes before he manages to steer them towards the chairs, and cunningly distracts her with another present.

Ellie is the last of the team to arrive, conveniently coinciding with the arrival of their other guest. They'd mostly decided to keep the party to family, but they've grown pretty close to their neighbour, Roger, a single father with a son about Tali's age, and a daughter slightly older. The two kids join Tali and Victoria, thrusting more presents forwards, and after exchanging their greetings Ellie and Roger choose seats very close together. Tony grins to himself and goes to take over at the barbeque.

It's everything he's ever wanted - more than he ever let himself want. He has a family. His team was always his family but it is so complete now. Gibbs is sitting down on the grass to blow bubbles with Tali and Abby, Ellie is throwing jelly beans across the garden at Tim, and Ziva is lying on the grass with a smile that speaks of peace.

There are still dark days. The shadows of all she's been through still haunt Ziva, and sometimes when Tony is woken by Tali's crying he sees that Ziva has been awake all night. There are horrors that will not leave - but the pain of them fades just a little more with each day that they spend with their daughter.

 _Their daughter_.

And now, surrounded by a family and so much love, she is utterly relaxed.

And so Tony is too.

By and large he gets everything cooked nicely, though the meat ends up a bit more charred than he intended because there's a brief interlude in which Tim and Roger gang up to insist that Tony's doing it wrong, which is an insult he can only avenge by getting the kids on side to chase down the offending force with water pistols. The contest ends when Tony accidentally (and he will swear to his death bed that it was an accident) sprays Gibbs full in the face, and is sent back over in disgrace to rescue their lunch.

They eat sprawled out over chairs and blankets, the kids momentarily rendered silent, and Tony lets himself watch the way the sun makes Tali's hair glow. He needs to take more pictures, he thinks - but realises to his absolute shock that Gibbs is ahead of him, surreptitiously taking a photo of the kids on a digital camera. Who knew this was what it would take to get him into the twenty first century?

Then it's time for the cake. It's store bought, though not for want of trying; neither Tony nor Ziva have ever had much cause for baking before, but there was a look of steel in Ziva's eyes as they bought it that told him she would definitely have perfected the art by this time next year.

It's shaped like a Minion (creatures Tony has become intimately familiar with of late; he enjoys rewatching a classic but no one ever told him just how many times kids insist on watching the same movies) and proudly holds four candles. Tali watches with huge, round eyes as Gibbs lights them, and claps delightedly when the whole group gathers round to sing happy birthday with varying tunes and degrees of success. Ziva cuts the cake and Tony hands round plates, and it's the most wonderfully domestic day of his life.

Gibbs shows him the photos afterwards, when the kids are playing with Tali's presents (Abby bought her a kiddie forensics kit that is winning for now) and the others are gathered around chatting about casual things, about houses and TV shows and kindergartens, where work doesn't feature at all. The shots are mostly of Tali and Victoria, and he sees his daughter blowing bubbles, laughing, smearing yellow icing over her face.

But there's another one that Gibbs shows him in a slightly gruff way that expresses that they're never going to talk about it, but there is a very fond look in his eyes as he hands the camera over. It's a picture of Tony just as Tali went to blow out the candles. His face is slightly lit by the little flames and his eyes are sparkling. He looks a little like he might cry and a little like he might burst back into song; it is an expression of total wonder and absolute love.

"You did it, Tony," Gibbs says, resting his hand on the back of Tony's neck. "I'm proud of ya."

Tony looks around, and smiles. He's proud too - of all of them. For all they've been through and survived to find themselves here, building the best of lives. He looks across the chaos of his beautiful family and his eyes meet Ziva's. They both searched for this for years, on their own and then together, fought and lost and loved and travelled thousands of miles, and now they have found it.

Tali laughs, and they are home.


End file.
